The War
by lemon-son
Summary: This is War. War has no mercy, it only leaves a trail of tears and blood. Because this is the tale of the worst war in history.
1. The War

_**The war that will end all wars.**_

 _ **How naive**_

. . .

 **Munich, Germany, 1933**

"People of Germany, Give me four years." The man spoke with agitation, his body shaking with passion. "And, I swear to you, as true as I have accepted this office, so I shall leave it then. For I have not taken it for gain or wages…"

"...But for your sake alone!"

He truly is great.

The crowd inhaled the pledge with silence. Together, they raised straightened arms with undeviated voices,

"Heil Hitler!"

"Heil Hitler!"

"Heil Hitler!"

Germany took in Hitler's speech with widened ice blue eyes.

Their country was going to be great again, no doubt with the man's determination. A mere soldier, not even at a widely respected rank, could receive the rarest honor at his level. His bravery, the man lead Germans down the streets to rampage for the future of the country. Germany could almost feel the glory of the past days, the Prussian Empire who had no fears, with not even Russia could frighten the them. The shame of losing the Great War will be forgotten and a new Germany will rise above the rest of the world, showing how powerful the descendants of Germania truly are under the rule of the Nazis.

Ludwig lifted his head from the protective shadows of his army hat and found his eyes met piercing ruby ones.

" _We're gonna be great again Luddy"_

Germany's older brother, Prussia shamelessly showed the message and a ghost of a smirk appeared on his face.

Germany couldn't help but to twitch one of his rare smiles from the corners of his lips.

 ** _For the People_**

 ** _Heil Hitler_**

 **. . .**

 **Rome, Italy, 1922**

" _Ciao!_ You're the new Prime Minister, Mussolini. Right? Nice to see you again! I'm _Italia Venetian_ and this is Romano, _mio fratello,Sud Italia!_ " Italy babbled in a cheerful tone, hoping to leave a good impression with his new superior. "We're the personifications of Italy and pasta tastes delicious!"

"Yes, very nice to meet you _Generale di Brigata_ " Mussolini said quickly and seemed to want to end the conversation quickly.

Italy flinched at the use of his military title, since most people will either address him as 'Feliciano' or 'Italy'. He prefers people not associating his name with the slaughter house of humankind, the military. Nevertheless, Italy kept his smile despite the failed effort of a nice discussion. Beside the cheery nation stood his other half, Romano who was scowling at Mussolini and was muttering something along the lines like 'bastardo', which was his usual greeting to figures of authority. Or just anybody in general.

So the era of war has finally ended, hasn't it?

Living a life on the battlefield has been truly terrifying, the German armies using what they call 'Lightning War' and poisonous tear gas during the World War. The confusion at which side to take, the Central Powers or the Triple Entente was horrible. It was so painful to watch Mr. Austria's expression when Italy announced to join the others after a year of watching the two sides battle. Those lavender irises revealed shock before they wiped solemn words across them.

' _We're enemies from now on_ '

The surprise on Ms. Hungary's face and the cheery smile that vanished was so heart breaking.

Italy bit his lips at the memories. He and Romano had to make the choice that will sacrifice less people and the Triple Entente were succeeding in pushing back for a year so they had to make the decision.

But, things like that would never ever happen again, right?

That was the last battle to solve all problems, right?

No more war, right?

 _Of course_ , Feliciano reassured himself. Besides, Mussolini was never a big fan of war anyways, he had insisted on not joining the Great War. With him, there'll be no more deaths on the battlefield and no one will suffer heavy losses anymore.

No one would feel the agony that Italy felt when Grandpa Rome died.

Or when he realized that the Holy Roman Empire was never coming back.

No one will ever suffer like him...

...Right?

 ** _For the People_**

 _ **The end of all wars**._

 **. . .**

 **Busan, Korea, 1910**

"Kiku, please don't do this" Korea begged, tears were prickling at the corner of his eyes.

South Korea's twin brother, North Korea glared daggers at Japan. But fear could be seen behind those amber eyes.

"I'm helping you. The Empire of Japan will make Asia great. We'll be powerful, different from the past under the rule of Japan." Japan spoke monotonously, his eyes completely rid of any emotion, he knew they were blank.

An empty void different than his usual murky irises.

As a soldier, no, as a country itself, he cannot have any lingering thoughts, there is no pity on the battlefield.

War changes people, it changed him to a soulless creature and Japan knows this. That's what made him battle China without a single thought of guilt. He won easily against the measly prepared Chinese army. But, Japan knew that there was no honor in that battle, Yao was stricken with pain on the battlefield from people revolving against the Qing Dynasty rule and barely had any strength left to fight him.

Even so, honor does not exist there's only war, nothing else. Another useful tip Japan learned from those Westerners. One day you are friends, the next day could lead to betrayal.

To survive this cruel world is to cross that line of trust and break through the barrier of sanity.

It was torture crossing it, like it was torment to stab China in the back with his katana. That's when he killed the human side of Japan.

Yet, that's what made him powerful.

"Also, from now on, it's Japan." Japan said softly "Kiku died a long time ago."

In some twisted way Japan found it amusing that the twins' eyes widened in fear.

This is just the beginning of a war

 ** _For the People_**

 ** _Next is you, China_**


	2. Tea

_Paris, France, 1931_

A certain Englishman ran his hand through his messy blond hair with frustration and stared out at the streets of Paris. It use to be filled with so much dignity and elegance, but now it only contained a murky scent of starvation. The Great Depression was really starting to take effects on the country personifications, sickness was sprouting among the nations. He, himself could feel an oncoming migraine settling in from the backtracking economy.

Thankfully, Brittain was doing better than most of the other nations, he heard that a country called Liechtenstein almost died if it wasn't for Switzerland.

A smirk appeared on the Brit's face at the thought.

So old Vash really does have a heart.

For once, he was glad that the host country for the League of Nations meeting was that bloody frog France. Even when their citizens were on the streets rioting, they still managed to argue carelessly for the host country. If the conference was held in England, he would've died of shame with Francis seeing the poverty, even if France was far off worse. Besides, he didn't want Hong Kong's first meeting to be in England, where he had lived for the past few decades or so, it'll be nice to let him out for a bit.

England sighed, looking back to his notes. Everyone else left for the momentary break from the conference, only he remained.

AS he thought back to the meeting, they had actually been productive for the past few hours, trying to solve the financial crisis-er… Except for when bloody France tried to hook up with Hungary. Must he always try to seduce someone in _every_ meeting? That's when the meeting had to be discontinued with a frying pan met the git's face and chaos broke out.

At least people were productive and that git America wasn't here to blurt out stupid ideas like during the Paris Peace Treaty after the war. Apparently, Americans don't want to mess with "European affairs", plus, Alfred would probably get killed by all the angry nations in poverty. America apologized over and over again for being the cause of the economical crisis, but everyone knew it wasn't him to blame, even with all the death threats.

But, England knew, this would be worth it. Everyone suffering for a few years was worth the wait for eternal peace after the Great War.

Because it's the war that ended all wars.

A yawn came over England's mouth, sprinkling the corners of his eyes with refreshing tears as he politely covered it with a hand stretched out.

Papers shuffled, he gingerly picked out a word filled page and began reading through the script for his speech, muttering the words out, trying to fix some last minute stumbles. A thought of maybe going to a nearby tea shop for afternoon tea after popped in. That sounds lovely, England agreed, a cup of warm Earl Grey along with some of those french scones that France has always been boasting about how much better they were than English scones.

Yes, he did feel bad about enjoying overly expensive french tea and crumpet while his people were starving. But, it's the least he can do for the desperate citizens that live in France, giving the ridiculously expensive shops a bit of business.

"Mr. England" A voice cut through his thoughts.

Grumbling, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with people at the moment. With a frustrated sigh, the British nation tore his vibrant green eyes off the page and was greeted with a familiar face,which made all the annoyance he felt fade,

"Oh, Hong Kong!" Arthur gave a worned smile at his colony.

The Asian teen wore the same emotionless stare. When England first took him after the Opium Wars, he had expected a hyper panda loving boy seemingly to China. But after when the older nation woke up smelling smoke under his bed trailed by loud bangs that scared the hell out of him, he thought otherwise.

Although he had no idea how Hong Kong kept his face blank when he scolded him harshly afterward and suspected he caught on to his other brother, Japan's, talent of emotionlessness.

"So what brings you here?" The blond beamed at his colony.

"I… I want to talk to you about something..." Hong Kong stuttered out as if he's unsure about what's he going to say.

As a gentleman he was, Arthur gave him a reassuring look and spoke to him in a friendly manner.

"What do you think about getting some afternoon tea? My treat. You could tell me about whatever is troubling you there, I heard that _Mariage Frère_ holds excellent French pekoe."

The teen looked uncomfortable at the suggestion as his chestnut coloured eyes traveled down to meet his gleaming black leather shoes. England, of course, has noticed this and glanced at him worryingly.

"Is there something wrong lad?" His emerald eyes glinting with concern. "You don't seem all that good. We don't have to go out if you don't want to."

"No, it's just..." Coffee eyes darted around the room restlessly and seems very interested in the space behind Britain. "Nevermind, I'll tell you when we get there."

Aware of this, the English nation turned slightly and saw modest black hair framing a small face.

That was strange, did Leon not want to chatter away with his older brother? He surely have missed Japan after not seeing him since the last World Meeting.

Ah, Leon was always a closed book, not wanting anyone to hear a drop of himself.

"Shall we go then?" Arthur lead him out of the room walked out of the extravagantly designed conference building and onto the crowded streets of Paris.

England chewed the insides of his cheeks upon seeing all the unemployments of France and felt guilt churning on his insides that they were going out for fancy food when the people were crawling on the edge of starvation.

"Lovely day today." The Brit smiled at the rays of sunshine trying to shake off the feeling, quite a change from the rain in London.

Productive meeting, things going as smoothly as possible and an agreeable weather. The warmth of the sun definitely lifted the mood of the normally grouched England. In spite of that, there were glares of gaunt faces at the two men with fine suits and leather bags.

However, the Asian teen didn't comply with the day. He constantly looked back and biting his pale lips.

They found their way to the tea place and opened the fancy door with a jingle, the only things there were empty elegant chairs and tables that scattered the floor in an artistic way.

" _Allo! Comment nous vous pouvons aider?_ " A man who looked hyped up by the customers as they took a seat near the inside, since starved faces and heated glares didn't really go well with tea. Clearly people who had the money to go for one of the most expensive tea shop in Europe has was very rare these days.

Being around Francis for centuries, he, himself could more or less understand basic french, Arthur answered back in somewhat surprisingly fluent french with a very thick English accent.

" _Puis-je avoir un Earl Grey?_ And Leon, what would you like?"

"Uh… A LongJing is fine."

" _Et un LongJing thé vert, des une douzaine des scones avec des confitures._ " England smiled as he placed the orders. Despite how much the western cultures rubbed off of Leon, he's still loyal to the Chinese tea traditions.

Leon suddenly took in a deep breath and seemed hesitant to let go, as if afraid of the words that were going to spill out if he did.

"Lad, if you have something to say," Arthur asked kindly, he has done this plenty of times with others under his care. Sometimes it's nice to have a pillar to lean on, to deposit everything that's bottled up. "I'm here to listen."

To be honest, Arthur was rather envious of his colonies.

England never had anyone to talk to.

To be fair, his brothers were assholes. His mum passed away before he had experienced a nation's sorrow and was enjoying life in heaven, probably having sexy times with Rome, leaving him to struggle on earth. That's why he protected himself from the world.

Hong let go of his breath and closed his eyes briefly, as if calming himself down, a string of words was sent out.

"You know what's happening in Asia."

England grimaced. Yes, he heard about how Japan took over Korea and caused many unrests. But, that's just simply not his business. Besides, he already was having a handful from handling things in his own country, messing with things in Asia? He could barely leave England these days

"Yes, I do."

Hong Kong looks a bit baffled at the short response. His blank stare turned into a furious glare.

"That's all you have to say?! That's all?! Aren't ya gonna do something?!" The younger country blurted out with a withering gaze. As soon as the words were said, Hong Kong looked down and bit his lip again. As if he realized that he was disrespectful to someone who's above him.

"...I'm kinda sorry that I yelled at you."

Taken away by the outburst, Arthur found himself staring at his colony.

"No no, don't apologize. I know it's kind of overwhelming with the things that're going on." The blond head surfaced from the shock of the upsurge. "I mean it isn't that much of a surprise to the world since Korea is in debt with Japan-"

"They basically took over Korea. Forcing them to give control of the government to the Japanese." Leon quickly cut Arthur off but using his monotone voice yet again."Aren't the League of Nations gonna do something? Isn't that the purpose of it? To stop world domination or something?"

"We barely have time to manage our own country, there's too much going on with the crisis. Besides, the Koreans don't seem all that mad since their planning a revolution against the Emperors anyways." England said in a hopefully comforting way and failed miserably seeing the corner of Hong Kong's mouth twitched in silent fury. The Brit couldn't blame him, seeing your family crumble piece by piece is definitely an emotional train wreck. Especially if it's your most sincere sibling tearing it apart. Starting with Taiwan, then the Korean twins.

"Mr. Kirkland, you don't know Kiku, the person. Kiku never liked Yong Soo and Hyung Soo. It began as a small childish rivalry. I had no idea what happened after, they started to have real hatred between them and Kiku tried to take over them. More than once." Leon stated with worried eyes. "Kiku might try to kill them. Not Korea, but them."

England took some time to digest the words. Can a personification die without their country dying?

But, England himself was in shambles, helping the Korean twins doesn't benefit him whatsoever.

"There really isn't anything England could do at the moment." The blond rendered the words with pure sympathy, he felt sick saying them and averted his eyes from Hong. For Leon, it must be like stating a death sentence for his brothers.

" _Voici vos thès._ " The waiter came back, practically radiating happiness with the customers, despite the foul aura that Hong Kong held. He held a peeling gold plate along with dusty, yet beautifully flowered china.

" _Merci beaucoup._ " Arthur nodded and began spreading jam on one of the scones. Hong Kong stared at him, hazel demanded to be noticed. Arthur couldn't.

"Sorry lad."

Silence took over once more along with small sips of tea here and there.

"Leon, it might be better for Korea to be part of Japan." An arched eyebrow answered the sentence. "The Koreans have been relying on agriculture for years, Japan could modernize it. Introduce factories and machines, wouldn't that boost Korea's economy?" The Empire smiled in a friendly manner.

Leon stared and processed the information. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times but nothing came out and eventually gave up and that's when his voice found itself again.

"But that's not all that's happening there you know?" England blinked in confusion."You're one of Jap-Kiku's best friends, you should know what's happening in _his_ country." A small wince escaped the blond at the slip-up. The nations themselves shouldn't be referred to countries in public, particularly outside of their own land, plus, it was discomforting to be reminded that they were different, they're not human. They're the borderline of the physical and psychological world. A thought turned real.

"Look, you and I both know the Japanese. They're ambitious, they'll do anything to fulfill their goal or orders. I mean that's a fairly good trait but, it can get very extreme and being stuck on a tiny island with earthquakes isn't going to help with that." Arthur nodded understandingly and hastily took a bite out of the prepared scone. "And then, there's a giant piece of land that's right beside them. And I'm pretty sure that you know about the things Japan did."

"They're going for China. I can feel it, even though I haven't been in Asia since you know what" The Opium Wars. A forbidden subject between the nations of Asia and the Britains. A sip of Earl Grey was enough to express understanding.

"The Japanese had been planning an invasion for years. They tried before, only to be defeated." The Brit explained. "Even if they had the power, Japan would be afraid to test it out, with the LN and all."

"He's not afraid-"

"Of course _they_ are." England pressed on and emphasized ' _they'_. "With their current financial standings and being part of a ' _peacekeeping'_ organisation."

Hong wasn't impressed by the answer, his dark, thick eyebrows narrowed he retorted back, "You _do_ know that Japan's economy is better than _any_ of the European countries, except for the Soviet Union." Arthur simply waved that off, Japan didn't contribute as much as the rest in the Great War. He was on pure offense, unlike the rest, who were forced to battle back and defend, fearing the Central Powers from taking their land.

"Leon, the LN would put a stop to it if Japan gets too far, I'll promise you on that."

"What if Japan got to Hong Kong? Or Shanghai? They would eventually get there if you don't do something **now**. Then, China would be done for."

"We will take action when needed-"

"You don't understand what's happening, . The Japanese government are encouraging their people to move to Manchuria. They've got their eyes on that piece of land." Hong Kong stated, words firm and unwilling to back down.

That doesn't make sense. China's financial standing was one of the worst in the world next to the Central Powers and Poland. Why would he want them to move to China? He surely won't have the heart or the money to help his brother repair his GPD, even if it's his family. Besides, the Japanese wealth wasn't that bad off, In fact, it was one of the best with the poverty cra-

Unless...

That's why Hong was so worried and insistent for the LN to stop him. He noticed that Japan was trying to take over China bit by bit, starting with Manchuria. Using immigration as a facade It's just like how Kiku took over the Korean twins. First, using increasing the Japanese population, then controlling the exporting ports. Slowly consuming the jury system for the Japanese immigrants then the Koreans. Taking over the media, along with the government opposing people of Korea. Lastly, the last nail in the coffin. The government itself. It was almost like how Netherlands had used the East India Company to take over India. Using the hatred between the conflicted kingdoms of India and somehow took the kingdoms under control and united them as one.

With Manchuria down, an easy invasion going south could effortlessly conquer China.

But was it worth it to break the friendship between them for a weak nation? Betraying Kiku's trust just for a corrupted piece of land?

No.

It's not.

At this point, England didn't even care about how powerful the nations were becoming. As long as they don't pose a threat, which Japan wouldn't because they're so far from each other, and if he can gain from him.

"They aren't taking action in forms of invasion, so there really isn't any problem." Arthur said coolly while he brushed his unnaturally messy hair back. If the conversation goes on like this, they could just go in circles all day, arguing about when it's best to take action. That's why he hinted a challenge in his words. Either agree with England, or face Japan himself. No matter what, the end result won't affect his country. Leon seemed to get the hint and bit his lip, weighing his options.

"Don't forget that I warned you." He chose to back down. Smart choice.

"But I gotta ask you." Blonde hair wavered with a nod. "Do you still hate Yao ge for killing and torturing those people? You already burned down his palace, you **still** want more revenge? "

Arthur snails subconsciously drove into the base of his palm. The blonde hadn't expected Hong to be brave enough to poke upon that subject

"I _don_ 't want revenge, nor need it. This is nothing about personal business. " England raised his tone a bit, hinting that a mere colony like him shouldn't say what they were not suppose to say. "The world is chaos, as long as the Japanese is not acting beyond the laws of the LN, we would refrain from creating conflict."

"I swear with an attitude like that, you'll let Kiku murder someone and you'll slide it off like a harmless prank! Oh wait, you're letting him kill the Korean twins already. Now all he had left is to skip off and become a power-hungry sociopath, like America! "

That does it.

"Watch your tone with me young man!" A sharp edge of anger weaved itself into Arthur's voice.

For a moment, the younger nation looked as if he wants to yell back. Mouth opened, ready to shout and face angry, but he took it all back. Like nothing happened. England almost thought that he was hallucinating if it wasn't for the redness on the teen's cheeks from anger,

"Kinda sorry for speaking to you that way." Mumbled Leon, his face said otherwise, eyes narrowed, teeth clenched and jaw tightened.

"Nevermind all that then." The Englishman was very surprised by the change of attitude and replied with the first thought he came acrossed at. "Don't worry, we won't let Yao get hurt. We'll interfere if we need to"

That was a white lie.

"That's when it'll be too late." Britain noticed, Hong never took his eyes off of him for the entire conversation. He wanted to get a point through."A great empire, whether weak or not, would not benefit the UK. If China is taken, they will go for India and so on."

"..."

The seriousness was suddenly flushed away, with Arthur chuckling. England couldn't help but laugh at the young colony's inexperienced thoughts and merely smiled. The world didn't work like that, everything must have looked so easy in Asia. There was this element called 'trust' that existed, it use to roam in Europe, but Britain himself murdered it. Soon, the continent became chaos, that's when _benefits_ became common, countries won't stick up for others, it's all for themselves. A pile of loose sand was easier to break apart than a boulder.

From all those years, England was the first to learned to never trust anyone. Gaining was the only thing that mattered.

All of his colonies were so naive.

"I'm sorry for my laughter, that was improper of me." England stifled his chuckles and formed it into a smile, " Anyways, there isn't anything I could do at the moment. The countries haven't declared war on each other so there really isn't anything to prevent. I don't suppose America is that much of an idiot to allow another to take the Phillipines away from them."

Leon shook his head quickly, "That's not what I'm trying to say. You might be too late."

"There's _the_ Russia up there, They'll bloody murder Japan before they can even get near the border."

"I also assure you that the United Kingdom would take action if necessary, losing a country like that wouldn't be good. However, I think China would have too much pride to accept help from my country. It's been a couple of years, but I don't think they have forgotten the Opium Wars." He relaxed when he saw Hong Kong's fists uncurl itself but frowned when he saw the other stiffened at the mentioning of the wars. "How about this? I'll talk to Kiku tonight and see what's happening."

Brown hair bobbed along with a grateful nod.

" _Mhgòi_." A slightly relaxed overtook the Asian's voice. "And please don't tell anyone about this conversation."

A nod returned.

" may I present as speech? I have some things I want to share with everyone" Latvia asked timidly, requesting permission from the main founder of the League of Nations.

"Hunh? Oh, pardon me. Go ahead"

To be honest, the nation was spacing out throughout most of the presentations and speeches. The migraine that had occupied his mind kept at it and the world was a blur.

" _What are you doing with Xiang Gang? What are you going to do to him?" Hollow amber eyes brimmed with watery tears stared desperately back at him. A shriveled body was tied up, not even struggling, but shaking at the lack of the drug._

 _Mere opium could bring the strongest Empire in Asia down._

" _China, the treaty of Nanking has been signed " England brushed the non-existent dirt off of his olive military uniform with one hand and crouched down to eye level with the ancient nation. Careful with a sleeping Hong Kong in his arms. "Your Emperor agreed on us taking Hong Kong along with five of your ports being unconditionally opened to outside trades."_

" _I don't know what my Emperor is playing at, but please don't take Jia Long" At this point, there were even tears sliding down his face._

 _Feeling no sympathy whatsoever at the pitiful nation in front of him, he stated calmly._

" _You started this war, closing your ports betrays the laws of trading. We were only selling you modern goods, aiding your country. And you blocked us off." Emerald gazed at the ruined mandarin shirt, lavished with golden dragons of silk. "Then you have to face the consequences."_

" _Good day to you China, I hope you can realize that the world had moved forward without you. You're the only one who's stuck in time. When you unfreeze yourself, I'll look forward being good friends with you. If you don't, I'll be waiting for yet another colony at my hands."_

"Fine, meeting over! It's late anyways. We're continuing this tomorrow, get here nine o'clock sharp!" Germany yelled in frustration.

Wait, what? England swore that they just came back from lunch break. He looked grumbled sleepily and looked around, his headache still pounding in his temples. The world had darkened behind the glass panes, it was almost eight.

Bloody Hell! He slept through half of the meeting!

"Ve~ Germany, let's have dinner together! You and your Fratello can have pasta with me and Lovi!" The tall blond grimaced at Italy's clinginess towards him left from the World War as Feliciano dragged him down the halls.

The sun soon completely dipped behind the lazily rolling hills when Arthur arrived in the at _Hotel Le Bristole Paris'_ grandly decorated halls. Apparently, he was not alone.

" _Konbanwa_ Arthur-san." Japan greeted in a proper manner as he gave a small bow to England.

Arthur returned the gesture and signed into the hotel. Perhaps a talk with a good friend after a troubling day would help clear his mind. Oh, he also has to talk to him about China.

"I know it's late, but do you mind coming over for some tea and chat for a while?"

Because there could never be enough tea.

"Ah," Japan looked a bit startled at the sudden invitation but soon smiled. " _Arigato_ , that sounds very nice indeed."

A warm smile found itself at the Brit's lips. Being with Japan was always so calm and peaceful,

They stepped into the prepared room after a quiet ride in the elevator, England set his shoes to the side and sat gingerly on the couch holding the bridge of his nose, anything to ease the pain in his head.

"Are you alright Arthur-san?" Arthur huffed.

"I'm fine, it's just that the crisis taking its effects." The Brit sat still for a second and leaned over to his suitcase lying near the sofa to dig out some teabags. "English Breakfast Tea?" England couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at the irony. Having English Breakfast Tea in _France_ during _supper_.

"That sounds nice." The Japanese man sat down on a nice recliner gently as ever, creases didn't appear. Arthur had always wondered how _did_ Kiku achieve such gracefulness...

As England prepared the tea and brought the piping cup to Japan accompanied by some store bought crumpets from the hotel cabinet. (Which Japan asked multiple times if he was sure that they were store bought for some weird reason)

"Er… I heard what happened with Yong Soo." The blond asked hesitantly, his mind battling on whether he should ask. "Is there something up with you and China? I know this is not my business but-"

"Arthur-san, as much as a friend you are. This is simply not something you Europeans should be messing about with." Japan quickly interrupted. " I'm merely just improving the Economy of Asia and helping other countries develop."

England nodded slowly, unsure if he should continue asking. Taking a deep breath, he mustered up the courage to inquire once more.

"Being the main founder of the League of Nations, along with that frog. I would very much like to know what's happening in Asia. After all, one of my colonies is there. Don't want all that business affecting Hong." Arthur tried to jest with a friendly smile but was failing with his sense of humor. Nevertheless, his point was stating that he was not here to catch him red handed.

A huff of breath was heard being released.

"Recently, my citizens have suddenly taken interest in Manchuria, China." Kiku started slowly. "My government and I have just been encouraging them to immigrate there, that's all that's happening."

Exactly as Hong Kong said.

"That's interesting, any motivations?" England inquired, toying with the edge of the truth.

"Less population and main land is my guess."

As the Brit began to reply, Kiku cutted in.

"You know what's happening."

Always quick with thinking.

"Yes" All friendliness that manage to linger evaporated. The conversation was quickly turning into a business confrontation, all words were careful and guarded with caution. To be truthful, England would have much preferred a light hearted discussion after a long day of headaches and restless meetings, but the look in Japan's murky brown eyes implied that he was telling something important. "China is what's happening."

Kiku's face still held no expression, tea in his hands and his head tilting a bit at the words. "I suppose you know about everything then."

"Yes, but you are disobeying the laws of the LN, article number ten." Arthur calmly said back. What was Japan playing at?

"But you haven't reported me." A smirk like feature ghosted over the Japanese man's lips. Ah, the smugness was Kiku's game today. "I know you don't want a battle, nor an enemy at a time like this."

England tilted his head, an urge for him to go on.

"How about we make a deal, Arthur-san"

* * *

 **A/N: I've edited this chapter (Note: Edited not revised, there's a difference), finally! This awesome fellow reader, _Awenia_ (I hope that it's alright that I'm using your name here) pointed out my grammar mistakes and I was like, wow, um, this is kinda embarrassing. So after spending like a month on hiatus (* _cough*_ School work and others * _cough*_ ), I went to the computer and was like, alright I'm gonna work on chapter 4. being the pro procrastinater I am I was like, wait, hold on, didn't someone say my grammar or something like that was off? **

**_Reads through first few chapters._**

 **Oh god.**

 **So now we have a better grammered first chapter. But that doesn't mean I'm happy with it. I'll definitely spend time on revising this chapter, both plot wise and language wise.**

 **So lately, there's a lot of stuff going on in my life and I just came to a realization sort of thing. And... It's complicated, it'll be an idea that I'm gonna write out into a short story for a school project and I'll probably post it on Wattpad or something if it's good. What I'm trying to say I've developed this less sadistic view of life now and it's gonna affect my writing as well.**

 **When I first started posting, I was all, what if my writing's not good enough, I should probably write out the next few chapters completely before posting the first, my plot is not good enough and all that. But now it's different. What I'm trying to say is that these chapters are gonna be revised a lot and most of them are not gonna be perfect when they're first posted. Don't be surprised if I add stuff in, just think of this story as a WIP. Give as much feedback as you see fit because the thing my life is missing right now is feedback from others about my writing. Think of yourselves as Beta readers if you'd like.**

 **As always, thank you for reading. You guys are awesome like Prussia.**

 **Mags**

* * *

 **Translations or Just Information: (Forgive me if my French is bad. Please correct them if there are any mistakes)**

 **French Franc is the currency in France until 1960**

 ** _Âllo! Comment nous vous pouvons aider? = Hello! How may I help you?_**

 ** _Puis-je avoir un Earl Grey s'il vous plâit = May I please have an Earl Grey_** (Typical England)

 ** _Et un LongJing thé vert, des une douzaine des scones avec des confitures. = And a LongJing green tea, a dozen of scones with some jam._**

 ** _Voici vos thès. = Here are your teas_**

 ** _Merci beaucoup = Thank you very much_**

 **How Hong Kong added 'ge' to Yao's name means 'Brother Yao'. It's like a thing in old time China with classy people.**

 **Jia-Long is Hong Kong's Chinese name in Mandarin**

 ** _Mhgòi_ = 'Thank You' in Cantonese**

 **- _San = Mr./Ms./Mrs/ (Arthur-san = Mr. Arthur)_**

 ** _-Kun = A Japanese suffix to add to end of boy names. (Leon-kun)_**


	3. Beginning

_1933 Washington D.C, America_

After what seemed like hours of meaningless wandering, the day had slowly darkened. The three of them walked into a small sushi bar, Japan immediately sat down at the nearby barstool with throbbing legs and wishing for some traditional salted fish to sooth his aching back.

"Hey sushi dude!" Japan flinched at how Alfred addressed the _Itamae_ in a very disrespectful manner. "Can I have some California rolls? Ooh! And also extra of those super salty fancy soups, thanks man!"

While Japan ordered in a much more proper tone, some rice balls and dried fish. Even though if it _is_ a Sushi restaurant, he just can't bear the fancy new 'sushi' and would rather eat customary rice balls.

After the he picked out the fake flower that decorates the dish, Japan enjoyed himself with the almost perfectly made food and thought about maybe going for a nice soak in the tub at the hotel after. Traveling these days are just not good for his old bones.

"How's everyone doing? I heard that everything is getting better." A guilt plastered smile weaved into the corner of America's lips.

Piercing emerald burnt a glare on the American's face as England blew into his cup of hot Japanese herbal tea and answered with an annoyed tone. "Yes, you wanker. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been in bloody poverty in the first place."

An uncomfortable silence overtook them as the young blond looked down and averted his eyes from everything else, obviously still culpable about the Depression. Suddenly, his eyes sparked up and his 'heroic' grin overtook his features.

"So, Kiku." The asian man stiffened, at the use of his human name. Japan had gotten use to addressing himself as his country title. "How's Asia? I mean, it better be good 'cause it's the last place on earth without ol' Iggybrows' interference. Well, there is India and Hong Kong but let's just focus on you. The big dog in East Asia-well there's also that freaky Russia dude so I guess that's two then?"

Japan smiled inwardly at the lively Western nation. The world is simply not a place for old people like himself nowadays.

" _Hai_ , economy gaining itself back again and it's certainly a relief for all of us." A swift response came and America cheered something about 'The hero saves the day!' but from the corner of Japan's eyes, he saw bushy eyebrows narrow with gleaming suspicion. Nevertheless, the look took no effect whatsoever on the asian man and continued taking small bites from the rice balls.

"How's Yao?" British accent filled the air again.

Yes, Japan knew where this was going. England is well aware of his plans.

Two years and he hadn't told anyone about it. Typical Arthur-san, wouldn't do anything that he does not benefit from it. Naturally, young Alfred-kun caught on to it.

Arthur is afraid of another war in Asia and his relationship is not at all well with Yao. So why interfere? He has already informed his british friend that if he and his government are not impeded by anyone, there will be no war. As long as Hong Kong and India are safe from his taking, Arthur would have no reason to stop him, but that does not mean he did not care.

"Yao-san is not doing so well."Japan answered in his tranquil voice, although did he had some trouble adding "-san" to Yao's title. Because the man does not deserve such a suffix, he is pathetic ever since the Japan-Qing war. No, that feeble country was never fit to control him, he was never great enough to hold the Empire of Japan. "He never was well after the Qing dynasty collapsed. After, _ano_ what was it? Oh, the Opium Wars."

Japan said sharply, he turned the point onto Britain. After all, he was the one who crumbled Yao. However, the asian nation couldn't help but adding a mocking tone to his sentence. A mere island country from Europe could take the Empire of the Great Qing.

Weak.

Upon the mentioning of the Opium Wars, America visibly flinched, clearly Alfred was not proud of his part taking.

"Ah… Yes." Green eyes are still on Japan's pure white suit.

Tension could immediately be sensed as it drowned out the friendly talk. The two Empires stared at each other, giving that both of them are unwilling to back down.

Surprisingly, the usually carefree Alfred caught on and laughed nervously.

"Hey dudes! Let's go visit to the Statue of Liberty or something…" The American trailed off at the frown taking Arthur's face. Typical, America never really think before talking, especially about a gift that _France_ gave to him. "...Or that Liberty Bell you gave me." A nervous finishing is never good.

Awkwardness hung thickly in the air while a new voice cut in from behind.

"Always sticking to the Japanese style, aren't ya?" A familiar cut through with a drug infilled scent.

"Lars-san." Japan jumped at the suddenness and turned. Eyeing the tall man and a small smile spreading his face. They were great friends. A couple decades ago when the island nation locked itself from the outside world, no trades nor leaving the country, the only person Japan trusted was the Netherlands. They traded greatly in Dejima while no one else was allowed to visit, the Dutch provided goods beyond their dreams so naturally they are one of the most trusted nation to the Asian country.

"Hello Lars." A formal greeting was given by England. "I did not expect you to be at a sushi restaurant."

Lars shrugged and settled down on one of the barstools. The Dutchman cooly flinged his blue and white striped scarf over his shoulder and he stuck his hands back into the cream coat again as some girls from the corner giggled at his coolness.

"I'm not actually here for that. Hoping to find a bar or somewhat, heard from Ludwig that there's a great beer bar somewhere, he said that there are some pretty ladies there." The Dutchman dropped his calm demeanor and winked at the squealing girls in the corner. "Ludwig and Gilbert- Well the whole gang is gonna be there, I was thinking about talking them into trading again. The Depression don't do good on money."

"Of course."

The Japanese man nodded, as he kept his movements to a minimum. From the corner of his eyes, he saw America looking down at the cherry wood floor guiltily at the mentioning of the crisis.

"You guys wanna come?"

Well, the Japanese man is very disturbed by loud gatherings and would like serenity most of the time and Japan was pretty sure Lars knew this well. So it shouldn't offend him by turning him down.

" _Ano…_ Mayb-" Japan started his usual indirect rejection.

"Hell yeah! Let's go!"

Alfred suddenly said, or rather yelled, happy with the invitation. The Asian nation sighed at the enthusiasm of America and went back to his food, he'll tell him later when America has calmed down.

"Wait, is Matthias gonna be there?" Alfred inquired with a flashy grin.

However, Netherlands doesn't look all that pleased with the loud American and gave a simple nod.

"Awesome! The Awesome trio is gonna unite once more and blind the world with awesomeness!" The blond pumped his fist in the air and put a leg on the table with another knew on the barstool to strike a 'hero' pose. Which led to the _Itamae_ glance angrily at him.

"Hey both of you! You're coming with us!" Yelled America as he took back his leg from the table and jumped down.

 _Nani_?

"You wanker , I'm not going to one of your drinking gatherings. Besides, I've got more important stuff to attend to and I'm sure Japan wouldn't like to accompany you either."

"Oh you're just scared that you're gonna get drunk and embarrass yourself in front of everybody." A challenging tone accompanied the words.

Clearly Arthur is not backing down without a fight.

"Why you! I can take alcohol very well you know! " Then, there's a full blown war happening between them once again.

"Lars-san" Japan began carefully, trying to talk the Hollandic man out of bringing him to the gathering. "I woul-"

The arguing in the background that was starting to become white noise suddenly stopped with a loud yell above a cursing Englishman.

"Well, that settles it Arthur! You're coming! C'mon I've never seen you drunk before." A sly smile took the American's face with wagging brows.

"Bloody hell, we're going to a _beer_ bar, git!"

However, the blond just waved the statement aside,

"Before you protest, Kiku, I won't take 'a no' 'cause I've gotta find out if the Asian glow is real!"

" _Ano..._ " Crimson swept the black-haired man's face at the mention of the myth. Maybe not exactly a myth but embarrassing nonetheless. Spending a day with the overly hyper man was enough but a night at a pub?

No.

Just no.

But America being America, his sapphire hues glinted mischievously behind those square framed glasses. "I have no idea whatever that Japanese thing you just said meant and I'll take it as a 'yes'." Alfred blabed, "See Arthur! Even Kiku is coming! You're going with us."

"No he's not-"

"Then we should get going." Netherlands quickly said before another argument settles in and failed miserably.

After a round of heated quarrel between the blonds, the quartet found themselves at a rather crowded bar. Holland's words were true that the 'whole gang' was there. It seemed like most of the European nations were gathered at the tiny room, enjoying a break before the conference tomorrow.

Needless to say, the place was chaotic, even without a meeting present. Most noticeably was Denmark and Prussia were having a very extreme drinking contest with America dragging a protesting England off to join them.

"Kiku! Dude, join us. I wanna see you drunk!" Alfred motioned Japan to follow but the Asian was very reluctant to follow upon seeing the albino trying to strip himself bare from his state and was dangerously close to crashing into the the dozens of empty beer bottles he drank. Luckily, Germany was quick to stop his brother.

With a sigh, Japan walked over and sat himself a good few meters away from the trio and the British man who was blurting out colorful language. Which landed him a spot next to Ludwig and Feliciano. Germany hid his pale face beneath the shadows of his military hat in embarrassment at his _older_ brother's drunken actions. A groan came from the German followed by tired words, which addressed whoever just approached him and sat next to the two.

" _Guten abend…"_

Italy smiled cheerily and greeted the Japanese man with enthusiasm, unlike Ludwig.

" _Ciao_! Kiku, right? _Buonasera_!" Japan jumped at the sudden greeting

" _K-konbanwa to you too..."_ A weak response found itself at the island country's tongue.

This was not good at all, Japan barely knew Italy or Germany, since their trades were never very active and the Italian seemed like a conversationalist. Whereas Japan would prefer to keep to himself and refrain from speaking.

"So! We've never really met before, except for business and stuff. I really wanna get to know you!" Feliciano exclaimed happily and droned on. "I heard Japan is a great place, I really wanna see how it's like! I've went there in the past but it's kinda like China which was _bellissimo_. How _does_ it looks like with after you 'Westernized" it?"

Auburn hair bobbed innocently as he tilted his head like a puppy, waiting for an answer.

This is a type of people Japan has never really encountered before and he could only stare awkwardly and had no idea how to reply.

"I suppose there are a lot more buildings..." The Asian man replied unsurely.

"Woah! I wonder how that looks like!" Exclaimed Italy with a smile and hugged the Japanese for some strange reason with a sentence that completely strayed from their topic. "Did you know that your really nice!?"

Flushed by the sudden contact, cheeks bright red, Japan gingerly tried to pry the other off, very confused at why in the world would he _hug_ him but Feliciano did not seem to get the idea.

" _A-ano…_ W-what are y-you doing Feliciano-s-san?"

Sapphire coloured eyes all of a sudden appeared in front of the struggling Japanese man and practically lifted Italy off of him.

"Stop traumatizing Kiku, he's probably already having a bad day getting dragged into a bar by Alfred." Germany settled Italy down on the barstool beside him. The Italian simply smiled and said a quick ' _scusa_ '. As Feliciano began to string up a conversation again, a brunette was stomping over.

"What are you doing with my _fratello_ you potato bastard!?"

A sigh came from the blond's mouth as he covered his face in annoyance.

"I wasn't doing anything, Lovino."

"The stop trying to harass Feli!"

Ah, so this is South Italy. Japan had heard that there were two personifications of Italy because of the split centuries ago. On the battlefield during the World War, he had only met North Italy briefly.

A grumble came from Lovino's mouth along with a few curse words and began to drag his brother with him, apparently away from Ludwig.

Silence unfolded as the two introvert were left alone with each other and they had literally no idea how to start a comfortable conversation. As they both sat, not wishing to bother each other, the Japanese man eyed the room more carefully. Noticing that he was the only one without drink, he pondered to himself what he should order since he never really tasted beer before. Furrowing his face in confusion as Japan stared blankly at the menu displayed behind the barman, a bass voice suddenly appeared beside him.

"If you're bad at holding alcohol, I'll suggest _Schwarzbier,_ not very strong but quite a candy like drink." Germany suggested.

Japan was very startled but managed to hold himself together.

"O-oh, _arigatou._ I'll try one of them I guess," The asian flushed at his improper reaction but was grateful for the advice, he was really at lost at what to do. "After all, Western drinks are very well known for their tastes in Japan."

A slight smile etched into the corner of Ludwig's lips.

"Pint, _Maibock_ and a _Schwarzbier."_

Japan thanked the German for ordering and leaned back a bit to see how England was holding up with the obnoxious group. Apparently not well at all with America forcing beer down his around, he saw two beers slapped on the table, one chocolate brown and the other a reddish auburn like fallen autumn leaves. As Ludwig took the maroon drink, a flash of red on the pale blue jacket.

An armband.

With a swastika sign. The holy symbol.

"Ludwig-san." Japan looked questionably at the German. The swastika sign was known in Europe as a military representation, from the Finnish air forces to the Polandics. As far as he knew, only several has used the symbol and Germany isn't one of them. "What is that sign on your armband?"

Ludwig was downing his beer in a remarkable speed and looked up at the expressionless man. Wiping the foam on his upper lips with a clothed glove, he responded, "It's called the Nazi symbol, we've recently appointed a new chancellor. Many governmental figures disagree with him but, I believe that he'll make our people's living conditions better and gain a stable position in the world using his _Nazism_." Japan looked thoughtfully at the symbol.

 _Nazism_ , that's new.

"Chancellor Hitler is certainly one of the greatest people in our nation. His bravery in the Great War is enough to show how promising he is." Both men grimaced at the mention of the World War. It was something that no one saw coming. Thousands upon thousands of people died in merely days.

"He has been given an iron cross after as the status of an enlisted soldier." Germany continued and looked down, tracing his own cross on the collar of his heavily army influenced jacket "A very rare his rank."

"He must be greatly respected in your country to have you speak of him like that." The older nation said.

" _Ja_ , a great man indeed."

Japan had brief mentionings of the man before, but to see Germany praise him in such a way must mean he's very great.

Suddenly noticing that Ludwig has somehow almost finished his beer and is eyeing Japan and his beer. Embarrassed at how he didn't even touched his drink and thought about how rude he probably was, he coughed dryly and flushed at his impoliteness.

Hands on the pint, Japan looked into the swirling pool of chocolate colored liquid and began to question the taste. It wasn't colored brightly, which was good and it was not too much so he could probably finish it. After taking a deep breath, the Asian closed his eyes subconsciously and took a small sip.

It was actually not half bad. A bit sweet though and a bit weak, unlike traditional Japanese alcohol which was very strong.

As Japan took a few more gulps and heard a British accented voice yelling loudly above the chatter.

"America you twat! I'm the United bloody Kingdom! Don't tell me that I'm not Catholic! I AM!"

" _Arthur_! You're totally gonna-"

"WATUP CATHOLIC BUDDIES!"

The bartender looked very disturbed at the yelling Brit and also at the fact that he just call himself a country. Japan looked down, very ashamed of his friend's behavior and turned away. His eyes falling at Italy who was in a corner chatting away with a girl followed by a brooding Romano.

"I have never seen you close with Feliciano-san before, Ludwig-san." The ravenhead suddenly mentioned at the thought of the two sitting next to each other with no reason whatsoever. Ludwig raised an eyebrow and stifled a chuckle.

"I don't even know. Before we were enemies- _äh_... he wasn't a very threatening enemy, just a few years ago, he started hanging out with me. Well, he started clinging ever since you know what, but that was Feliciano. The country began actively interacting with Germany very recently, like in the past few months."

That is certainly news and the Japanese man looked up questionably at Ludwig.

"Are you consent with Feliciano-san being around you?"

"He's a coward and lazy and all that, but…" Germany looked up with a small smile, a small look of pure happiness in his eyes. "It's nice to have a friend."

. . .

"Dude, the hero's here and the World Conference can convene!" America announced at his entrance energetically.

"Wanker, you're the last one to come! The meeting began fifteen minutes ago! Where were you?!" An englishman snapped angrily and threw his hands in the air to emphasize his point.

Upon the mentioning of being late **again** , a nervous response came from a flustered Alfred, "Ha, slept in."

"Anyways... Last night was awesome! You can totally party Britain!"

England looked enraged at the mentioning of last night and was about to yell back when he seemed realized that the rest of the world were waiting for the two. Arthur coughed to recover his dignity and literally dragged Alfred down to their seat beside an empty seat while muttering something like 'Never drinking again' America, on the other hand looked indifferent like this situation has happened many times before.

Suddenly, azure eyes darted to the other side of the room where the Asians are and his eyes fell on another empty seat. "Hey, I'm not the last one! China's also late." America gestured to an area next to Mongolia and India, who were wondering where the Chinese man was anyways.

"That's what I said." A few of the nations jumped in surprise at the unexpected childish voice. Instead of the usual seemingly friendly grin, it was replaced by a worried scowl and narrowed amethyst eyes. An aura of deep lilac surrounded Russia but what was concerning was how it was not it's usual dark, icy violet which made people back away even more.

"See Britain! I'm not the _only_ one who's late! Besides, China missed a lot of meetings in the past few years. I at least don't _miss_ them! In fact, I heard from Canada," Who's Canada? Japan wondered and saw others in the room turning and asking their neighbours the same question. Which lead America rolling his eyes and patting thin air in the seat next to him, as if comforting whatever is next to the American. "...That he was absent for some LN meetings too."

Before Arthur could cut in, a frustrated growl came from a blond at the other side of the table with the landlocked nations of Europe.

"We really can't waste anymore time. Let's resume the meeting." Germany stated, annoyed at the tardiness of these nations. "We'll postpone China's speech until he feels like showing up."

"Great! Then I'll go first! I've got this awesome idea that'll save the world using-"

"Oh shut up, you git "

"C'mon England. Freedom of speech! And I swear it's a reasonable idea this time!"

"Yeah, I'm bloody sure it won't be as stupid as the last!"

The conference started off a bit rough around the edges but Japan didn't mind. It was better than the last World Meeting, which ended with Switzerland trying to blow France's brain out for molesting Liechtenstein. Japan tried to lose himself in the hopes of helping with the poverty- _ano_ except for the one where America proposed to raise the economy by growing genetically modified 'money trees' under governmental control. However, no matter how hard he tried, he just cannot block out a small voice echoing the same question over and over again.

 _What's happening in China?_

The ancient nation would never abstain from important conferences like this unless something really happened to his country or because of dinner... But that's usually just coming late. Like when Japan pushed up to the Great Wall itself, trying to take past Manchuria and fight for Inner Mongolia that is near one of China's most important cities, Beijing. Somehow, his thirst for blood died and planned everything thoroughly with logic. Striking through China in one big go is going to cause too much damage to the Japanese people and the Chinese are going to rage from the attacks, as if they aren't angry enough from Manchuria. He did nothing for the past year, so there shouldn't be any reason to be absent.

 _Unless…_

 _...If that happened, Yao truly has fallen._

Pathetic, weak.

Yao does not deserve Mei-chan or Yong Soo and Hyung Soo.

China is too weak of a nation to deserve either of them.

Shaking his head, trying to clear his head and concentrated back to the discussion only to find vivid colors of a sprouting tree glaring at him in the front of the ever stretching table. Japan glared back at England but focused on his speech, which was almost finished. The topic seemed to be concerning the third world countries that can't exterminate the poverty because they don't have the money on mass construction to regain jobs for families.

Suddenly, blazing eyes flickered a warning like signal at Japan. Then, Britain began suddenly on what was left of two years ago.

"On another completely different note, there has been something that was bothering me for a long time. I trust that you all know about the new country that has been declared Manchukuo." A few of the nations in the room nodded in understanding and a couple looked at Japan, knowing that he help 'liberate' it from China's grasp.

So England finally cracked, they both know shattering the bond they had obtained from the broken Anglo-Japanese Alliance was not wise. But he has done it. "There is no personification, it's because it's **not** really a country. It doesn't even have its own government."

"It's under someone's grasp. And we all know who it is."

Japan felt all eyes in the room shift on him now.

"I don't care if you're part of the League or not, we are trying to prevent what happened before." Many shuddered and muttered under their breath at the mentioning of the war. "Because it's the war that ends all wars. Not only the Allied Forces, but the world promised nealy a decade ago and I don't suppose actions like this shouldn't be accepted."

Silence.

Someone was brave enough to break it.

"This is not a forbidden action. I have good faith in Manchuria and helped it being liberated. I see no war happening." Japan stood, quietly supporting his view. He was not angry, he saw this coming a long time before.

"Liberated? I wouldn't say that as 'liberating', I would say it's taking."

"I did not, me and China-san both agreed on a grand rail track being built there and allowed Japanese residents to live there with the air of the Japanese culture.." The asian cut in smoothly.

"And you call that not forcing the Chinese out." Rage clearly glinted in those emerald irises, not on behalf of China, but for how strong Japan is becoming and he can't do anything about it. Unlike what he did with any growing kingdom of Europe in the past.

"The people of Manchuria wanted it. They wanted their own country and I helped them create one."

Arthur sent a withering glare, Japan seeing him trying very hard to keep his gentlemanly appearance.

"They're under your control."

"You do not have evidence, England-san" Japan breathed deeply, trying to contain his own frustration.

The British man glowered scathingly, "Yes I do. I don't suppose you heard the protest of the Chinese. You're violating their land."

"You do not have proof of violation and land taking."

"The truth is within the people."

Japan nearly scoffed at the words. Perhaps Arthur haven't been thinking straight. He, the United Kingdom, out of all the people does not have the right to say that from what he had done in the past. Or maybe he still thinks that he is the center of the world and no one would dare to object him.

"The truth is useless without physical evidence and they can be destroyed, like burning it."

Half of the room flinched at the sensitive subject of the burnings. Raiding the precious artefacts and destroying the evidence of forced taking by lighting a fire. The recent burning of the Old Summer Palace of China during the Second Opium War was still imprinted in many's minds. Clearly, the Englishman was not pleased with the memories that it brought back, but Japan had to say it. It was a topic no one dared to touch and today will be the day where he, Japan finally has shown that the world is not under the United Kingdom's grasps anymore. After the Great War, the kingdom broken down, it's not the ruler of this society anymore.

"Whether proof or not, you have forcefully taken Inner Mongolia. There was a war. I wouldn't exactly say that as what you've taken an oath upon."

"I didn't see people defending China when that _actually_ happened." The blond was left to fume and opened his mouth to interrupt Japan simply proceeded to say his point. "And that wasn't _taking_ , it was claiming the property of the Kingdom of Manchukuo from centuries before."

At this point, it has almost seem like they were back in that hotel room two years ago, both restraining their anger at the mask of a peaceful discussion. Every word held a double meaning, trying to throw the other off. Apparently, Japan won with England snapping in the end.

"As words I've said two years ago. Stop using that as a cover up when people can clearly see through it." England narrowed his vibrant eyes and his look was comical with the almost unrealistic eyebrows.

"England-san, I would say the same-"

"Dude, did you just take over a part of China?" America finally woken up in the midst of confusion and looked around like a deer in headlights. As if someone flicked a switch, people began chattering at how **America** was joining the conflict between the two.

"America-san, if you had listen to a word I have been saying." Japan clenched his fists and felt rare anger bubbled inside of him. Was no one on his side? _Hai_ , they were freeing Manchuria from China! He was _helping_ the people of Manchuria becoming stronger! There is no reason to accuse him of domination. The Japanese government were actually investing for factories to be built, spending their own money for Manchukuo. Was not America all about freedom? "We helped liberate them from China's control. Helped them build factories and raise the economy since it has been suffering under the limitations of the Chinese."

"Dude, they literally don't have their own government. You really call that as in not taking?" Alfred retorted in a small voice, as if unsure about the subject. The chattering amongst others almost covered the words. Japan won't be surprised if the American was shocked, only England- no, only _Arthur_ knew about his actions. _Arthur Kirkland_ does not want a war, nor does the country England itself. Of course _Arthur_ would not tell his government and want to keep at least a little bit of trust with Japan. However, with Japan's power growing and could take a part of China on the battlefield, Arthur could not keep it quiet anymore. "I mean, we _did_ all promised not to rage war anymore."

"I am not raging war, I'm helping others."

"People, we have a meeting!" Germany interrupted, trying to not let the meeting into another chaotic discussion. America, on the other hand, his eyes widened behind his glasses at the words.

He has figured it out.

Japan's heart pounded, he had said too much.

The American collected himself simply waved Ludwig off and continued on with their conversation.

"You just drove the Chinese out with freaking guns!"

"America-san" Japan said once more, trying to keep his voice rid of any emotion like before. It was getting harder and harder knowing that he might have just broken his close connections with the Europeans. "I would not like say this again. I am-" Apparently, the blond was not taking this.

"Kay, dude, I've already let the whole Korea thing slide. So don't test my limits" Alfred face suddenly darkened and stood up, his usually jovial azure eyes turned serious. Ludwig fell silent and gave up trying restore peace, America's tone was humorless. Which meant something. The white noise of other nations whispering about the argument died and turned into fearful glances.

Japan knew that America realized if the Empire keeps on expanding in that form, it will reach the Philippines and his other colonies. As stupid the boy's ideas seem, he really is an intelligent person, figuring it out with just a few words Japan exchanged with England. Typical British behaviors no matter how much Alfred rebel, he still has Britain roots, anything that interfere with their benefits must be crushed

"America-san" The asian pressed, determine not to have Alfred as an enemy, but it is kind of impossible at the moment since the American has already seen through his plans of taking the entire area Eastern Asia. "I am **not** taking. I will say that for the last time."

Unexpectedly, a new voice joined the quarrel between the three.

" _Japon_ , you must not do this and retreat your citizens and military forces." France brushed his silvery-blond hair out of his face and looked at the Asian with a solemn expression. "That is disobeying the laws of the LN."

"How am I disobeying the laws? I am doing nothing wrong France-san."

"Dude, just take your citizens back and everything will be fine. If the people of Manchuria want freedom or they can do whatever they want but-" America was cut of by an impatient Japanese man.

"I will do no such thing."

"Everybody, we should calm down resolute this in a calm manner." Germany swiftly cut in once more.

"Ludwig, shut up!" Alfred yelled harshly and walked from the other side of the room to Japan and faced him. Ludwig looked very taken back and everyone was in a shock like state.

"Look! We're trying not to take over the world right now and you kinda are so just stop before we try to destroy your country!" America exploded, his patience lost somewhere within the swirling pools of double meaning. "We're all trying our best to recover from you know what and we don't need ya claiming other people's land in Asia!"

"America-san" The asian struggled to regain his composure at how hard it is to get America to understand this simple concept. "I'm doing the best for my people and Manchuria's citizens-"

"What about _our_ people?! The rest of the world?!"

"There is no gain if you can't sacrifice."

"Why do you have the right to sacrifice other people!?"

"Because the Empire of Japan is powerful. That's the definition of country and war. Without war there is no defining power! Without power there is no country!" Japan couldn't help but raised his voice at the end, which made Italy squeaked in fear and clinged onto Germany. "People put up so many layers to truly understand the true meaning, they forget how kingdoms are formed. By battling their way through!"

The blond glared intensely but was at lost at what to say. What he had said was true.

"That's what we're trying to prevent! That's why the LN was formed! Everyone has a piece of land and they're happy with it!" England suddenly spoke from the speech podium.

"Englan-" Japan began to protest once more.

"I must ask you to retreat as I said. This will do no good to any of us if we keep arguing. Or else we will 'ave no choice but to prevent you in the name of the League of Nations..." France joined in once more.

"Using war to stop another? _Un_ , very effective." The Japanese man said with a hint of sarcasm. Japan using sarcasm, _hai_ , he was very annoyed at the blindness of the European nations. All they care about is their own land and putting up a title for 'Stopping Wars' so no one could take their land.

Francis softened his tone at the rare tone of the Japanese's voice.

"This is forced action that none of us would like to take, so if you would retreat your army-"

"France-san, just leave the things in Asia at how it is. We don't need your concerns."

"-If that doesn't help, we could 'ave a vote with all the countries if you like _Japon_." Blue found its way on Japan's white uniform as he continued on as if he heard nothing. France seemed to have no means of hearing Japan's opinion and resumed speaking. "All countries is the part of the LN that agree wit' this, raise your 'and."

"This is not business that you should meddle with." Japan began once more. "This is between China-san and I."

"We live in the same world, everyt'ing that happens 'ere matters to all of us. That is the purpose of the League and everybody's existence"

The Asian bit his lip in infuriation as many raised their hands uncertainly by the very unexpected ask of their views on the subject. Japan saw in the corner of his eyes that Hong Kong raised his hand eagerly, while anger boiled in his blank eyes.

Hong Kong knew, even living approximately halfway across the globe from Asia.

Why is nobody on _his_ side? Why can't anyone understand that he cannot let his people suffer, trapped in a constant earthquake environment?

Then he had to do it.

Because no matter what, he will have China in the end.

He will destroy anything that gets in his way to get that piece of land.

"If you are all going to pretend to believe in a lie of _the war that will end all wars_ , I do not think that I belong in that category. Willing to believe in a lie rather than accept the truth." Many raised their eyebrow at the words, but the two English speaking blonds had their eyes wide open, already knowing what he would say.

"I quit the League of Nations."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi again! Sorry for the late update... I was gonna post last night but it was like 1 o'clock in the morning and I was trying to add in some last minute details and fix ups on my phone in bed.**

 **Don't do that.**

 **I eventually gave up and just pushed it to today. It's a long chapter I guess? I'm actually very nervous posting this, I think the arguing scene was a bit to melodramatic and not enough. Please tell me if it's bad... Also please tell me if the catholic joke was offensive, I'll take it down if it is. Also correct me if I missed something out in the historical part. I was thinking about spending next week just rewriting the _first chapter; Tea_ , which made me gag just reading it so expect a better quality first chapter next week. I'm just gonna say it here, I update every Tuesday or around that time anyways. **

**It's really late so I gotta sleep, bye!**

 **Also thank you so much for reading and those who favourited and followed! Every view really makes me smile for the rest of the day! Again, thank you so so much!**

 **Mags**

 **Translations: (Correct me if their incorrect)**

 _ **Hai/Un = Yes**_

 _ **Ano = Um**_

 _ **-Chan = A suffix to add to a girl' or a pet or a small child's name to show cuteness or something (Mei-chan)**_

 _ **Itamae = Cook**_

 ** _äh = Um_**

 _ **Japon = Japan**_

 _ ***It's extremely rude to address someone without a suffix in Japanese, unless you're very close to them or you're just implying rudeness***_


	4. Grotesquely Beautiful

_Dessie, Abyssinia, 1936_

Christmas spent being ambushed by Abyssinians was not Romano's ideal holiday. Christmas dinner was vitamin tablets and a side of gross looking baked beans, the carols were screams of the dying, dying trees were decorated with blood and occasionally a corpse that somehow managed to get between the branches. The worst was the present, poisoning and blinding people.

It was a blood red Christmas.

The battlefield for Lovino was to conduct genocide, or, in kinder words: 'to revenge those who had been murdered'. He had been in the 'incident' and the reason why he didn't die was because, well, he simply can't. Romano still remembered when blood pooled beneath him as bullets fired from all directions, a boot from lodged to the side of his stomach to check if he was dead. All he could do was hiss softly in pain at the impact but of course, Lovino had experienced worse, much much worse. Not the humans that were attacked along with him though, after all, one could only experience so much with a life that is less than a century. When Lovino laid there, prayers were muttered for his comrades, his hopes for them to be alive were held high, fake as the lies that those bastards (England and France) believed.

That's why he was now camouflaged in the depths of darkness in an endless wait for enemies to greet them with toxic gas for' vengeance for those who has died beside him in the Christmas Offensive.'

" _Generale Vargas, a wave of Abyssinians are coming from the North,_ " A young soldier piped up, panting softly from sprinting quite a distance. One of the disadvantages of concealed offense, lack of communication. " _Leftover soldiers from the north._ "

Romano clenched his teeth, he wanted to say 'no' but there was this damn thing called orders. Any Abyssinians left in war zones must be eliminated. "Check the sprays. Position them closer to the water. Last spray was too dry, wasn't as effective."

Lovino had done this enough times to engrave the whole experience in his mind, or more so his often nightmares and not flinch when the shower of poison hits. Procedures that would usually follow a command of preparing gas was: Prepare gas; Wait (a lot of waiting actually); Mutter a quick prayer to the soon to be dead and an apology to go along with it; Spray; Sit back and enjoy the screams of chaos, maybe give yourself a pat on the back; Rinse and repeat.

A couple of horror struck expressions could be seen in the small troop of soldiers Lovino was leading, clearly, they were inexperienced on the first few days of gasing. Now, they simply waited silently, as if the screams behind them were just the soft hums of nature and stared at Lovino for orders.

"' _s the last gas of the day. We're heading back to camp later._ " Romano calmly addressed the small group. " _Make sure to meet up with the people for night shift in your position before leaving. Now scavenge the zone for live enemies with a partner, tie 'em up and hand them over to those people over there._ " Lovino jerked his thumb towards his right, pointing at a forest of blue uniforms. " _Got it bastards?_ "

A wave of ' _Si Signore_ ' followed.

To be honest, Romano didn't even know how a Brigadier General and practically the avatar of half of Italy got landed with a _squad_ of newbies. While he was here comforting traumatized teenagers and mass murdering, his brother got the easier job. Feli was skipping happily between countries to negotiate with the others and the worst he had gotten into was defending the borderline of an Italian colony, which was where he was now. It's not that Romano wanted his baby brother to be hurt. In fact, it's the opposite, he couldn't imagine life without that bubble of sunshine and flowers.

Romano shuffled his military boots down the load of bodies called men to arrest Abyssinians that were alive. But most were not.

Times like this often guilt tripped Lovino, Feli would hate him for life if he knew about his actions. But secrets couldn't be kept forever, Lovino learned that the hard way. Things were bound to spill and their relationship would return to the awkward stutters of polite and uncomfortable silences like when their countries were first reunited.

It's been awhile since he and Veneziano talked, for some stupid ass reason that idiot, Badoglio decided to send the poor boy in war. It was already hard enough for Lovino to not see his brother for months, but now he has a constant nagging concern about Feli's safety.

As the sun cowered behind the plains of Abyssinia, the night troop finally made their way over to the gasing forest to proceed the killing. The trek back to main camp was long and tortuous but it was all worth it when a grin overtook the the nation's face while he was welcomed by a warm crackling fire beside finely clothed night was always the best time of a day, it was a shame that the time was plagued with nightmares. If Romano could choose to have ungodly inhumanity of not needing to drink, eat or sleep, he would happily accept it, anything to stay away from those truth was, he wasn't blessed with Jesus' powers, but rather a midpoint between god and human.

A wave pasta and beef hit Lovino's nose when he got near, sadly Christmas dinner didn't contain such luxurious food due to the difficulty of transporting food. Romano walked over to 'his spot' in the mass of tents while grabbing a pack of dinner from his military bag. A round of soldiers pulled around to collect letters for family and loved ones. Lovino pulled out his own piece of paper and stuffed it into the crisp, white envelope that was handed out. Soldiers chatted merrily amongst each other, letter day was the happiest. Romano's sharp and crabby handwriting glared back at him, the address was written carefully in Spanish and the letter inside was nothing more than a report of the events of the war, not a reassuring piece of text as the other soldiers.

While Lovino's letter was collected, a sealed envelope was thrown at him by a passing soldier. An eyebrow was raised suspiciously, the soldier turned and shrugged.

"Was sent by special orders."

Romano glanced cautiously at the letter in hand, soldiers were never allowed to receive letters from outside of the battlefield. However, the exporter of the letter made his heart swell. Quickly, he ripped opened his letter and found his eyes trained on a familiar near illegible yet artistic scribbles.

 _Dear Lovi,_

 _Greetings from your dear brother Feliciano!_

 _I hope you're well! Hope those Abyssinian citizens aren't causing too much trouble!_

 _I can't say much but, Ludwig was unhappy with our protest for Mr. Edelstein. I think he's mad at me. Oh, Mr. Kirkland and Francis were really nice and gave us some gifts and a fruit basket during my last visit with them! They've asked for me to say hi for them to you. So,_

 _Hi!_

 _I'll say hi back to them for you the next time I meet them._

 _Mr. Kirkland was a bit scary, but I'm sure he has a gentle side, like Ludwig!_

 _Um, oh yeah, I heard that some stuff is happening at our other big brother's._

 _Just saying. I don't really know_

 _Enough of that! I wrote this letter to tell you that I'm well and in one piece!_

 _I think this is the most I can write._

 _Be safe then!_

 _Love,_

 _Feli~_

Wait what?

. . .

" _Defenses up! Don't shoot unless you absolutely have to!" Feliciano yelled over chaos, a gun loosely clutched in his hands and his military uniform flapped against as a reminder for his sins. But he was still optimistic, the faster this invasion ends, the fewer lives he'd have to take._

 _Soldiers screeched as bullets flew, not Italians. Abyssinians._

 _Shivers ran up of Italy's spine, nearly a decade of tense peace rendered his brain defenseless against gore. The military was in desperate need of a General to operate the defenses for Italian Somaliland, so Feliciano was reluctantly positioned , the battle there was not as bad as what happened during the Great War, only a fairly small group was fighting against the borders as the Italians' success in the invasion._

 _But that doesn't mean it didn't involve killing._

 _Soldier screeched, gunshots accompanied, bodies fell._

" _Are you okay?" Feliciano hurried over to a fallen soldier who clutched a bloody leg. "Don't worry, we'll get you patched up right away! Just hang on okay?" A reassuring smile came easily to Feliciano, even when bullets flew all over the place behind him._

" _Generale Vargas signore!_ We've received a message from the main troops in Central Abyssinia that all soldiers not positioned in the Italian Somaliland military to retreat immediately."

Feliciano looked up from his meal of a disgusting imposter that dare to declare itself as pasta and a young soldier stood eagerly in front of him, a salute in hand.

"Any idea why?" Feliciano never bothered to add the tone of authority into his voice, he believed that a mutual friendship could be formed between anyone instead of just a general and his subordinates.

"No reasons sent _signore!_ "

They've won the war.

"Oh." Feliciano blinked several times at the realization, it made his stomach drop in fear for some strange reason. But his smile soon spread across his face like before. "Okay then, let's get packing!"

" _I never thought it would be you to attack my country."_

 _Italy raised his head at the voice, eyes widened. This was what he'd been actively running away from since the invasion began. "I also didn't think you were the stubborn type either, failed the first time and coming back for a second._

" _Bet the world laughed when the great Italian Empire couldn't even take a poorly prepared country like me."_

 _A hollow laugh rang._

" _I guess what England said was true." Wild hair dark as coal ran loosely behind a pair of auburn eyes. Pale uniform greased with dirt and fist clenched tightly until white flooded the tanned skin. "In this world, there is no such things as friends."_

" _There is only victory."_

 _Fire of hatred burned brightly in those eyes that once held twinkling friendship. Abyssinia stood within the shadows of the clouded African sun, his body wracked with scars and bones jutted out in an unnaturally sharp manner._

" _Long time no see, Veneziano."_

The truck traveled unnaturally slow amongst the terrains of Abyssinia, a bump here and there shook the vehicle and jolted the soldiers inside. Chatters and smiles passed around like a plague, they've finally escaped the battlefield. The cooling sensation of the walls seeped through Feliciano military clad and sent shivers of death down his spine even as the interior of the truck was fuming hot with the season.

A lot has happened in these past few years, Ms. Hungary and Romania's rivalry really brought the illusion of ' _The war that ends all wars'_ down. There's also England and France who were promptly ignoring the fact that everything was not at peace. Lovino had once said that the world was messed up after what had happened.

And Feliciano couldn't agree more at the moment.

" _Italy, I would like to remind you that we are your allies at this point in time." England stared hard at Feliciano, sat prim and proper at the conference table, coffee colored suit finely pressed. The Italian couldn't help but feel self-conscious at his own attire, tie slightly wrinkled, suit opened for comfort and his odd curl stood out more than usual. "Not Germany."_

 _Feliciano shrunk a bit at the words. Why couldn't it be Lovi in his position? Feliciano would much rather be in Abyssinia regulating Abyssinian citizens than facing other nations._

" _Um-Mr. England,_ _ **si**_ _, I understand. " Shakes of fear began to rack upon Feliciano's frame, always managed to scare him when serious. As England began to open his mouth again, the man beside him cut in._

" _Stop it,_ _ **Angleterre**_ _, don't scare the poor child. To be honest, you're giving me a fright with that stare of yours." A light chuckle came a face framed by silvery blond hair joined in beside England at the conference table. England shot a heated glare at France while France merely ignored the stare. "Feliciano,_ _ **mon cher**_ _, as allies and a show of friendship, I'd like for Eritrea, your colony to take French Somaliland for better support for… ah… your little invasion. "_

 _Feliciano's eyes widened at the words._

" _Yes... I hope you can understand our… trust towards you and your brother." Green eyes flashed menacingly despite the kind words. "France will sign the contract in the later part of our meeting. After all, trust between each other is one of the most important elements of an alliance."_

Usually, when Feliciano was sent back from war, he'd receive cheers of delight from people when their country was not at war anymore. This time, shouts of anger were sent as Abyssinians rallied down the streets of Addis Ababa. Windows shattered under force, Feliciano marched beside Marshal Badoglio, an army of Italians trailed behind.

"Do not lose hope! We're fighting to the end!" A voice bellowed the crowd of chaos, the familiarness of the voice made Feliciano's head snap up attentively, eyes wildly searching for the person who spoke. " Lands owned by us shall not fall into the hands of these intruders!"

Abyssinia stood in the midst of streaming people, his above average height stood out immensely along with the few shreds of the Abyssinian military uniform. This time, Abyssinia's cheeks were hollow, dark circles merged into his tanned skin, hair truly wild. But the fire in his eyes never faded, a look of will and determination.

Until tears fell at the sight of Feliciano.

Guilt mercilessly choked Feliciano at no end when all the protest and the rapid commands fired in Italian became white noise, all he could see was blurs of people as he ran out to his friend. His head pounded, breath gagged his throat and tears threatened to spill.

Feliciano had experienced guilt many times but, this was different.

Why was it though?

 _Feliciano stared back at his writing with a proud smile. All that was needed to be said was included without a trace of outsiders, it would only sound like a letter if comfort sent by a brother so desperate, he begged the military to send during a war. However, if all information was known, there's a whole other meaning to the words imprinted on the page. Plus, only people close enough to Feliciano could tell the nonsensical scribbles he has written. There was a reason why the military has forbidden Feliciano from sending letters, they could never decipher the words. But with some clever wording, a lot could be done._

 _At the bottom of the page, Feliciano swished his pen gracefully with the black ink, then gently easing the crumpled paper that wrinkled from reading and rereading into a small slip of white that blinded the warm flooded setting that he stood in._

 _Gun held in hand once more, back on the battlefield he went._

"I can't believe you actually took the place Feli!" Gilbert let out a loud laugh and slapped Feliciano heartedly on the back. Only a weak smile could find its way onto the Italian's features as he slowly sipped the ice cold beer that was placed in front of him. "Don't hold back on the drinking! We're here to celebrate! Celebrate you hear!"

" _Bruder,_ we're here for business." Germany spoke out from the other end of the table.

"Well fuck business! Loosen up a little, Luddy!"

" _Bruder_ "

"C'mon! We still need to celebrate our victory. 'S been 3 months and you wouldn't even let me invite Alfred or Matthias over for a drink!" The albino whined childishly as he dramatically faked desperation which caused a small giggle to come from Feliciano. "The word was dying to congratulate us and you wouldn't even let me invite my friends over!"

Sighs from Germany were common under the presence of Prussia.

"Except that the whole world was speaking absolute trash about us!" Smile instantly wiped off of his face, Feliciano visibly flinched at the raised volume of Germany's voice and couldn't help but shrink in his seat at the direction the conversation was heading. But Prussia treated the situation smoothly as always.

"Don't you mean that ol'Britain's afraid of us?" Gilbert took a large swig of the drink, foam dripped down his chin as he grinned slyly. "Isn't that what we wanted?"

A heavy silence fell upon them, even an easy conversationalist like Feliciano couldn't think of words to ease the tension out. If it was before, victories were glorious and declared a country of its powers. But something changed after the Great War, the world had entered a new era.

Where subjects were forbidden to touch,

Absolutely no one dared to mention 'The Liberation'.

Nor 'The Taking (Except for Gilbert, as he had just done).

Soon no one would dare to speak of 'The Invasion' either, the sin of he and his brother's actions.

. . .

 **Madris, Spain, 1936 July 10th**

"Oy 'Tonio? You home?" Echoes bounced off the spacious walls. "Antonio?"

No answer.

It really wasn't that surprising due to the fact that Antonio lived in a fucking mansion that has a literal fountain. Although, it was a bit strange how Antonio's front door was unlocked. No answer followed when Lovino rang the doorbell and an easy click came when he tested the knob.

It was clear that no one was home.

Romano's head swerved around as he eyed the warm blast of room was tidy as always, modest and comforting. Nothing was out of place.

Was he out or something?

Yeah, that'll be great. After literally hiding out in alleyways from reporters and a tiring, nearly two days train ride to Spain, he was greeted with an empty house

But the room had almost a different aura than before, the folds and wrinkles of the couch was a little too crisp, the gleam of the glass coffee table had an unnatural shine. It was as if those potato bastards had came over and lived there for a week, perfecting the tiny crooks of the decorations and flicking every dust particle of the mantelpieces.

Well, Antonio surely wouldn't mind if Lovino stayed for a few hours before he comes back, right? It's not like Romano could find a hotel cheap enough for him to stay in these days.

The Italian slowly ventured further into the large house, the warm sea side sun trailed behind through the graceful arches of the courtyard as it sprinkled shines onto the well-polished furnitures.

Antonio's probably left the door unlocked by accident during one of his _siestas_ or whatever that was. On instinct, Romano popped his head into the kitchen, where the Spaniard would usually spend his free time when not flirting with girls or hanging out with the first potato bastard and his perverted relative. He half expected summer green eyes with a warm smile, however, Lovino's eyebrows scrunched at the sight.

The kitchen was absolutely spotless, the white marble reflected blinding white, floor rid of stains, stove scrubbed, unlike usual, where a crust of soup scrubs piled. The fumes of tomatoes and spice were dusted from the air, knives shined like polished armor as if they were newly bought.

Antonio must've taken Spring Cleaning pretty seriously this year.

Romano walked straight into the kitchen, grumbling from hunger as he rummaged through the pantry for a snack, preferably a tomato. To his surprise, almost no food was found, only a small package of stale crackers and several cans of tomato soup. The closet was also empty, except for a box of musty looking cereal and lines of cookbooks colored the shelves with a black one that stood in the corner.

So that's what Antonio was up to, grocery shopping.

The brunette sighed with annoyance and took a piece of biscuit, he chewed moodily on it while wandering throughout the large colonial house, nostalgia flooded him when he weaved throughout the courtyard.

The days he had spent here.

Yawns soon covered Lovino's mouth, sleep on trains were really damningly impossible, a smirked shone as Romano walked an unnecessarily long distance to the master bedroom. The most comfortable mattress along with the finest duvets were always his to sleep on, well, shared with Antonio when he was a child.

It really has been a long time since he slept there. Now, during the rare times he visits Antonio, his place was always the guest room. Even as the bedroom was one of the most decorated and was kind of personalized to Romano's likings, he missed the days of waking up to find the warmth of family. The large mahogany door soon appeared and Romano turned the knob, desperately wanting a nap

A step in and a wave of foul scents of vomit and illness suddenly attacked hard as soon as Lovino entered the room. Eyebrows raised at the smell, eyes widened. Darkness was all he could see, only sun rays that dared to sneak in from the blinds gave light. Whispers of heavy breathing haunted the room.

Someone was in this room with him.

"Spain, you in here?" Romano tested, maybe Spain wasn't out on a shopping trip after all.

No answer.

Lovino's eyes suddenly fell on a quivering bundle in the middle of the large. Hurriedly, he lifted the layers of duvets and blankets, only to be responded with a low groan of resistance.

There laid Antonio, curled up feebly from the sudden cold, masses of shivers shook his frame. It's not possible for sun-kissed skin to be as white as paper while at the same time flushed with a menacing blossom of colors, neither for delicately shaped features to be etched with such misery and pain, nor should flowing, bright locks to dull to a shadeless, empty brown. Romano proceeded to take the covers off slowly, which revealed a Spain in a feeble position, a desperate attempt to keep warm. Romano's breath hitched at the sight. The figure groaned again, the sound wheezy from parched lips. A green eye peeked out from his curved eyelashes, glazed, it didn't look at Romano, it only stared ahead, eyes wide. As if blank.

"Antonio? Can you hear me?"

He didn't respond, green continued to look ahead, pupils wild. Lovino bit his lips, this was not good. Upon entering the room he had expected a mild fever that would leave him delirious enough to leave his door open but never this.

"Antonio!?"

A small jolt shook Antonio's frame, a gasp made Lovino's chest tighten.

Suddenly, the glassy look shedded which revealed vibrant green hues gazed tiredly at Lovino.

"Hm?" A small moan of pain came after and Spain curled even tighter upon himself.

As if a rock has been lifted off Lovino's chest, a sigh of relief overtook him. Antonio turned his head a bit his ruffled hair was drenched in sweat, caressing his face gently. A flash of recognition lit up at his gentle features. "Lovi?"

Lovino remained silent, words hammered behind his lips, urges to shout, emotions to scream. Instead, his hand found itself on Antonio's forehead. Flame like heat smothered his hand.

"L-Lovi, what are y-you doing?" Shivers began to rack Spain's frame again at the cool touch.

"You're sick, so I'm fucking checking how sick you are." Romano rolled his eyes in annoyance, however, his insides churned with concern. How high could a normal human heat up to until delirium? "Apparently very."

"Wh-what?" Antonio stuttered out, it seemed like he barely processed the information.

"O-oh." A small laugh came from Antonio, as if he tried to cover up his sickness and pretend everything was alright. "I wouldn't say that I'm very sick. Just slightly." Antonio reached to wrap himself back in his bundle of blankets, Lovino grasped a firm grip to stop him from doing so. After a few seconds of struggling, Antonio's hands fell to the sides and he panted a bit, which stirred the heavy concern that pooled at the pit of Lovino's stomach.

"Why're you here?" Antonio asked, attempting to brighten the mood and sneak friendliness into the conversation.

Lovino raised an eyebrow at that statement, did he not hear the radio? Or was this sick long before the victory?

"The war's over you idiot," Lovino said, a vibe of gratitude and relief could be felt from the Spaniard. "We won, Abyssinia's now Italian territory."

"The war's over… What? Hunh?" Antonio blinked several times, eyes wide before a glaze smothered over the green pupils again. Spain froze.

"Antonio? Hey bastard, you with me?" Antonio didn't move, his eyes were like before, but instead of a hazy like expression, his jaws tensed with cheeks hollowed a bit at the strain. For the first time, Lovino noticed how much weight the Spaniard loss from the last time he saw him. Antonio wasn't alarmingly underweight, but it worried Lovino.

Suddenly, Antonio snapped from his hazy look once again and brought his hands to his mouth, causing Lovino to step back in surprise. Snapping out of shock, Romano quickly brought the waste bin over to the grand bed, thankfully, Spain was conscious enough to reach over the side.

God, he was sick, really sick.

"Feli? You there?" Receiver up by Lovino's neck as he rushed around the large, now strangely spotless kitchen, his shoulders already ached in the awkward position of a phone perched haphazardly between his ear and shoulder with gleamed sweat that slid down his face.

" _May I ask who's calling?_ " A small voice erupted from the speaker.

"Lovino here." Romano strained to wet a washcloth cold water for Antonio who was resting in the living room as he also tried to check on the tomato soup he had prepared for Spain at the same time while balancing a telephone as his legs got caught with the cords.

" _Lovi! I am so sorry for not meeting up with you after we got back! I was sent back earlier than you, when I heard the news that the war officially ended it was too much of a hurry to travel to Italy from Germany..."_ Germany? Why the hell was Feli in Germany? " _...And I was-"_

Lovino quickly cut the other off.

"Why were you in Ger-" A sputter of coughs came from nearby. "-Hold on." Romano quickly ran with the washcloth to the living room, where he set Antonio on the couch to rid the hurry of rushing through the huge colonial house. After a washcloth and a sip of water was fed, he hurried back to the kitchen and the telephone was set back at the crook of his neck again.

" _Lovi?"_

"Here"

An awkward silence occurred as Lovino concentrated on deciding whether the soup needed the usual amounts of herbs, Antonio might not able to stomach that, only the sound of water boiling was heard and some small sounds of squeaks from the living room here and there.

" _You were asking?"_ Lovino froze for a second at the sudden inquiry and soon answered.

"Oh-Nevermind about that, I don't really give a fuck right now, you think you got time for a trip to Spain?"

" _Wha-huh?"_ Feli paused for a second. " _Oh-uh-sure, why?"_

The reply that formed dissolved as Lovino yelped when his hand accidentally brushed against the pot of piping hot liquid. A curse followed along with a worried Feli at the end of the other line. "-Don't worry, I'm fine. It's just that Antonio is-uh-really sick at the moment, I wouldn't mind some help."

Hesitation was heard.

" _Poor Antonio~ Such a bad time to be sick, how sick is he any-_ " Another voice suddenly cut in the conversation, interrupting Feli mid-sentence. As soon as the first syllable was heard, Romano groaned shamelessly. This was the last person on earth he'd like to talk to in a situation like this.

" _ **Wait wait wait wait wait, hold my awesomeness-'Toni's sick?"**_

Prussia.

 _Great._

 _Just…_

 _great…._

"No you bastard, he's absolutely frolicking at the moment." Romano replied, tone layered with thick sarcasm. The silence rarely heard from the Prussian appeared and made Romano raise an eyebrow

"' _ **Toni or Spain?**_ " The rough tone suddenly died down to a stoic voice, almost like his potato loving brother. The words left Romano silent for a moment, did he know about something Lovino didn't? The past hour spent of feverishly digging through Spanish newspapers and radio podcasts for conflicts in Spain lead him to nothing before he gave up and found out that Antonio haven't eaten for more than a day. That lead to a stream of curses and the situation he was in now.

"Antonio, I think." Lovino answered cautiously, hoping Prussia would pick up the pieces. Another pause came uncertainly from the other line.

" _ **Na schön.**_ " The German went quiet, apparently thinking. The silence was eerie as the boiling water bubbled in the background, Romano even stopped his actions of grinding pepper into the pot, almost afraid of what Prussia was thinking about, anxious from his serious tone. Fortunately, Prussia's solemn edge to his words evaporated and turned back to his usual one.

" _ **Well, expect the awesome me to be there! 'S been awhile since our last gathering-**_ "

"Oi beer bastard! I never said that you could come!"

"- _ **Antonio do need some awesomeness to help him get better… and I suppose top quality food won't hurt."**_

Romano groaned again at the words.

"You're not bringing that fucking pervert over!"

" _ **Try me**_ " A devious chuckle came from the other line.

"Oh I'll try," Romano said darkly. An amused kind of silence taunted Romano from the albino.

" _ **Good luck then! See ya!"**_

A small gap broke in as Romano processed the words.

"Oh no you don't you _bastardo_ -" The brunette left off at mid-sentence that was going to turn into a rant from his native language after upon hearing the phone shoved back to Feli. A frustrated sigh came and Feli's angelic voice was soon back at the receiver.

" _Don't be mad Lovi~ Plus, the more the merrier! I'm sure Antonio would be happy to see Gilbert!"_

The Italian scooped a ladleful of steaming soup in a spotless bowl and couldn't help but grin on the inside at the warm tone even as he was annoyed with Prussia. "Just get here as soon as you can, 'K?" Lovino gave a short response as he quickly turned the heat off.

" _Kay~"_ The best thing talking with Feli was how simple words in his naive tone could bring an unstoppable smile spread on anyone's face, including Lovino. The cheery aura clung on to Lovino even after the receiver was placed back on its stand-

"Shit"

Thick, red soup snuck out of the ladle and landed on the pure white counter, some managed to slip in the stove tops.

An attempt to reach for a spare rag was apparently a bad idea, Lovino's hand banged against a cabinet door and a trip that got him a frantic reach for balance. He hurriedly reached out for support and found a door, a panicked drop could be felt in his stomach as his hand grasped urgently at the knob, only to pull the door wide open and succeeded in knocking the towers of pans and cereal piled in the closet to the ground. The items' chorus of noise formed an orchestra of racket as they landed hard on Lovino.

Damn inconvenient closets and their inconveniences

The cheer rubbed by Feli was washed away as Lovino grumbled while pushing himself up with a mildly bruised arm.

"Fucking hell..."

Lovino groaned at the impact but soon silenced himself, body tensed, waiting for cries of worries from the living room. Surprisingly, Antonio wasn't woken by the racket. In some way, Lovino felt himself relax at the signal of peaceful slumber, but concerns flooded at the silence. As he shook himself from the nagging thoughts that swirled, Romano gingerly picked himself up from the floor and surveyed the damage.

Nothing was broken.

That was a good sign.

In a swift movement, the rag that was supposed to be reached before the chaos occurred dabbed the counter. There was still soup stuck in the stove top, he's gonna have to clean that later, best to leave everything the way it was before. God knows why the house was in such an organized state, the last thing he needed was for Antonio to faint in disgust when he's well enough to walk around. White clouds of heat whirled lazily above the steaming bowl of soup and heat radiated from the bowl, the tomato soup might need a cool down before Antonio could eat it.

The Italian rummaged through the mess and began stuffing items back in their respective place on the shelf of the closet while mentally noting to search for some bread. Best to get some actual food in Antonio's stomach without him hurling it out, what else is better than tomato soup with bread? Pans clattered softly as they were slowly placed on the shelves, Romano halted every time a ring of metal clanging, searching for signs of uncomfort from Spain. Lovino cursed inwardly at the sight of cereal under the oven, that'd also be for later, ants were definitely going to crawl in if it was left unattended.

Several books laid scattered on the floor, most were titled as Mexican or Portuguese cookbooks. A recipe for _Bruschetta_ caught Lovino's eye and he couldn't help but snort when he mentally translated the Spanish to a readable language. The recipe could definitely use some improvement. Seriously though, what did the author have against siege? No way such a small amount of the herb could bring out the beautiful flavor of the sauce!

Through more rummaging (and a couple of scoffs at other traditional Italian recipes) crumpled paper ran against Lovino's fingers and he froze with the texture.

Wrinkled and folded books were never good.

Shit, did he crease one of the books?

God, Antonio would kill him for damaging his books.

As he examined the cover for further inspection, the book was leather covered too, the texture was fragile, proving it to made of expensive and rare animal skin, the material was declared way too expensive for a household cookbook. With furrowed eyebrows, tanned hands brushed against the ink black spine and his fingers found its way to the edge.

No title.

All of the pages were wrinkled like how he found it, as if it was a treasured read of someone that was willing to flip through it over and over again.

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

Did he just wrinkle one of Antonio's favorite books?

But honestly, who would keep their favorite book in a kitchen closet?

Unless it's something Antonio wouldn't want anyone to see.

A diary?

A smirk rose up Lovino's face at the thoughts of hearing Antonio's private information.

But is it right for him to rummage through private information of a person that was so ill they could barely walk?

…

…

…

He wouldn't mind, right?

It's not like that he was doing anything bad, Romano might just get some leads to stuff that was happening in Spain even as he was very sure that whatever Antonio caught was just the stomach flu or something.

Cover turned, page flipped, Lovino's eyes trained on the paper yellowed by overu

* * *

 **A/N: I know, I know. I haven't been updating.**

 **And I'm very sorry.**

 **Life slapped me in the face, hard. School piled on and for a while, I just felt down, with a lot of stuff. Socially, pressure-wise and just thoughts swirled around. But now I'm on my feet and ready to write. Well... As long as my back isn't broken by work.**

 **The other day, I turned back and read chapter 2 and was just cringing so badly. Expect that to be fixed very very soon.** **I hope my writing have improved over the months that I was on hiatus because the stuff I wrote in chapter 2 was just... horrible.**

 **Oh, another reason why I haven't updated was because I was working on another fic centered around China's history for China's birthday. But, that didn't turn out good as homework literally pushed everything I have away.**

 **Another thing to address is that, THANK YOU FOR THOSE WHO REVIEWED!**

 **Thank you, thank you, thank you! I almost cried when I saw them because people are happy reading a piece of writing done by me! THANK YOU! Really, I'm sincerely thankful for all of them.**

 **Thank you.**

 **You guys really are the best, like friends that I can go to who wouldn't judge me and actually understand me. Because of you, an unstoppable smile was on my face for a week.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Hope you like this chapter! Please review! See you in the next! Which would probably be a while since I haven't even started on it!**

 **Mags**

 **PS: _I don't own Hetalia_**


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